The present invention relates to hand-held tools and, more particularly, to cordless, hand-held adhesive dispensers such as thermoplastic adhesive and caulk dispensing guns.
Various types of electrically powered tools are known for dispensing hot-melt glues, adhesives, and caulking materials. These tools are commonly characterized as `glue guns` and typically have a gun-like shape with a handle that is grasped by the user. The glue gun contains an electric heater element that is powered though an electric cord which typically passes through the handle and is connected to an electric outlet in the usual manner. The material to be dispensed, for example, hot-melt adhesive in stick form, is loaded into the gun through an entry port, melted by the heater, and dispensed through a nozzle. In some glue guns, a trigger is provided to selectively control the velocity of the heated material dispensed through the nozzle. In general, the ability to manually place the nozzle against or adjacent the area onto which the adhesive is to be dispensed can be hindered by the electric power cord. For example, the cord can become entangled or snagged on the work table and thus limit the usefulness of the dispenser. In order to provide greater flexibility in these types of hand-held tools, cordless versions can be fabricated with detachable connectors between the glue gun handle and the power cord. Such a connector arrangement, however, requires a two-handed operation to connect the power cord with the gun to heat the hot-melt adhesive and to periodically disconnect the power cord to allow cordless manipulation of the glue gun. Accordingly, a need exists for a system that allows a glue gun to be conveniently connected and disconnected from a power source to allow convenient cordless hand-held operation.